This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
It has been estimated that there are approximately 16,000 retail locations in the United States that sell fuel to the public. Many of these fuel dispensing stations have multiple pumps that are each equipped with a credit card reader that communicates through the station's electronic point-of-sale system (POS). The point-of-sale system, in turn, communicates with a financial processing network that may include connection to one or more credit card processing networks.
It is also estimated that there are approximately 240,000,000 vehicles in the United States. If each station serves 100 customers per day, this would amount to 16,000,000 pump activations per day. The actual number is likely considerably higher.
While the credit and debit card processing networks, and ACH funds transfer networks have heretofore proved adequate in handling this volume, credit cards are inconvenient in many climates. When a customer wishes to purchase fuel at a self-service dispensing site, the customer must exit his or her vehicle, swipe the credit card through the card reader on the pump, in some instances enter a zip code or other passcode, and then wait for the card to be authenticated before dispensing can commence. While this activity may seem insignificant on a balmy day, the same cannot be said when the temperature is 10° below zero or 95° in the shade, or when high winds, driving rain or blizzard conditions are raging.